Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

t What is stated in this aphorism; is this : one, by attending to only the proper measure of food, does not attain to all the beneficial results of eating, for measure is not the only question : the eight previous considerations, number¬ ing Nature and the rest, require also to be attended to, — T.

+ In the previous Lesson, among the eight considerations relating to food, occurs that on Rs$i or measure. The results of proper measure and improper measure, including inadequate and excessive measure, have been laid down, as a continuation of the consideration o£ Raqi. — T.

p. 464

CHAR AKA SA MBIT A.

That is as follows : of food taken according to measure, the following are the indications, viz., lightness of the stomach after eating, absence of the sensation of obstruction in the chest, absence of pain in the flanks, absence of aggravated heaviness in the abdomen, cheerfulness of the senses, gratification of hunger and thirst, absence of discomfort in standing,- sitting, lying, moving, inhaling and exhaling, laughing, and conversing, passing of stools with ease morning and evening, and accession of strength, com¬ plexion, and growth.7

As regards impropriety of measure, it is said to be of two kinds, viz., insufficiency and over-sufficiency of measure.

Amongst these (two), insufficiency of measure, in respect of the quantum of food, causes loss of strength, complexion, and growth ; does not lead to gratification, produces those diseases that are generated by a suppression of the wind ; leads to decrease of semen (or deterioration of virility), decrease of period of life, and loss of energy ; injures the mind, intelligence, and the senses ; causes a deterioration of those constituent elements of the body which are set down in the Lesson on sara (called Roga-vishakjitiya) ; inducing inauspiciousness ; and is, lastly, said to be the abode of the eighty kinds of diseases having disorders of the wind for their causes.8

They that are versed in all things say that over-sufficiency of measure is capable of exciting all the faults.8

Of the person who, having first eaten solid food in all its modifications to his fill afterwards gratifies himself with liquid food (or drinks), it is seen that wind, bile, and phlegm, generated in the stomach and being exceedingly afflicted by over-sufficiency of food, become simultaneously excited.10

* The word ‘ Sauhityam’ as used here, may not mean ‘ satiety ’ but only

< triptimatram ’ as explained in the note in p. 51 of Sutrasthanam. So also

< tripti ’ means only gratification. What is meant, however, by one having first attained to ‘ sauhjtya ’ by eating solid food and then gratifying oneself with drinks or liquid food, is indulgence in satiety or over-sufficiency of food measure,

By ' ama?aya ’ is meant that part of the body below the chest, in which the food eaten is deposited in the first stage. Etymologically, it is the receptacle of raw food. — T.

CHA RAKA-SA MHITA .

p. 465

The faults, (thus) excited, entering the undigested quantity of food, and taking refuge in a particular part of the stomach, become moveless, or suddenly escaping through the upper and the lower ducts, cause diverse diseases in the person that indulges in over-sufficiency of measure as regards food.1**

Amongst them, the wind (thus circumstanced) causes deepseated pains, epistasis and the like, heaviness (attended with pain) of the whole body, dryness of the mouth, swoons, delusions, irregularity of the appetite, contractions of muscles and nerves, as also the suppression of their functions.^

The bile (thus circumstanced) causes fever, diarrhoea with fever, burning sensation within the body, thirst, inebriation, delusions, and delirium or incoherence of speech. '3

The phlegm (thus circumstanced) causes vomiting, disgust for food, indigestion, agues, langour, and heaviness of body.«4

Those conversant with everything say that, without doubt, it is not over-sufficiency of measure in respect of food, that causes diseases owing to indigestion ; for, verily, food and drink that are heayy, or unmoist, or cold, or dry, or disgusting, or constipating, or productive of burning sensations, or unclean, or hostile (as regards combination), taken unseasonably, lead to the same result.

That food and drink also which are taken with a mind burning with lust and wrath, and cupidity, and distraction, and envy, and shame, and grief, and avarice, and anxiety, and fear, lead to similar disorders born of indigestion. *5+

* ‘Aparinatam’, is immature or undeveloped, meaning, of course, un¬ digested ; that is, food that has not yet been converted to its proper uses.